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What I'm about to say are from my observations and experience with my children. I think more and more of the younger generations, Millennial and the next one, even in the USA and Canada, prefer to live in apartments. They are more career oriented. They don't want to tie down and have kids early. They don't want to cut the grass and shovel snow. They don't want to do much maintenance around the house besides work. They travel a lot on business and personal trips with friends. So, those are good reasons not to live in a house even many of them can afford to buy one.
Each of my children has a good job. They can afford to buy a house with some down payment. I offered to help also. But they kept saying no. They want to live in an apartment (each lives on his own with a few roommates) with the reasons above.
I think it's a culture (in Europe), and people get used to it.
Thank you for your comment. Very insightful. Yes, I think that older generations had a very set unique way of doing things.
Great comment. Where in downtown Savannah if you don't mind me asking close to SCAD? Is it affordable to live over there? I noticed the South seems to have a very friendly/hospitable culture so I was planning on touring around.
Savannah is great! And yes, even though prices have gone up a lot in the past few years, it is still pretty affordable compared to some peer cities like Charleston. The citywide average is about $200k to buy and $1,100 to rent. I would say the landmark historic district is going to be pricey, but you can still find pretty affordable options in walkable neighborhoods just south of there in the Starland and Victorian Districts between Forsyth Park and Victory Drive. When looking at Zip Code 31401 which encompasses the walkable urban core of Savannah you are looking at about $350k to buy and likely around $1,800 to rent. You do have to pay a premium to live in the most walkable neighborhood in Savannah just like many cities in the US.
SCAD occupies some 70 buildings downtown so it isn't really one campus, but spread among various buildings downtown. My first home in Savannah (immediately adjacent to Crawford Square) was actually a 2 minute walk from one of SCAD's buildings. Second home was next to Forsyth Park (basically the Central Park of Savannah's downtown). We only had one family car that was maybe driven once a week if that. My mom, sister, and I rode our bikes or walked to work, school, grocery store, etc no problem. Folks are very friendly and there are a lot of transplants there from all over. I would recommend visiting first. Summers can be brutal with the heat, humidity, and bugs... Winters and pleasant are mild however.
I will warn that south of 63rd Street the city rapidly looses its urban grid and walkable environment and becomes just as sprawling and auto-oriented as the worst cities for walking in the South. Prices will be much lower further out, but you will need a car do go anywhere or do anything. Transit is not the greatest there, especially outside of downtown (there are frequent and free buses and shuttles you can take downtown however).
My grandma lives in the heart of downtown Savannah and does not drive. She walks everywhere including 0.3 miles (0.5 km) to the grocery store and to her church, bank, shops, and favorite restaurants. She is 87 and manages perfectly fine (in fact she is thriving) without a car and walking for all her needs independently. Very few places in the US can someone her age do that. So if you can swing the cost of living downtown you won't regret it (FYI you can also drink in public in downtown Savannah which I know isn't a big deal in Europe, but it is pretty awesome for the US).
I live in North America (Virginia) and have lived in an apartment or condo the past nine years. Haven't owned a car in 10 years and haven't mowed a lawn since 2001... Shocking I know, but I prefer the urban/walkable/low maintenance/small living space environment over the suburbs any day (probably a product of growing up in downtown Savannah and walking to school up through high school as well as living and studying in France and Germany). Your original statement OP is not quite accurate for millions of Americans that like living in dense neighborhoods and cities as it is for millions of Europeans that live in single family homes with lawns.
If you don't mind my asking, do you live in NoVa? I'm been to a few places in VA, including Alexandria, but I'm curious about where else besides the northern part of the state one can live a truly walkable lifestyle. I often think I'd like to live in VA.
What I'm about to say are from my observations and experience with my children. I think more and more of the younger generations, Millennial and the next one, even in the USA and Canada, prefer to live in apartments. They are more career oriented. They don't want to tie down and have kids early. They don't want to cut the grass and shovel snow. They don't want to do much maintenance around the house besides work. They travel a lot on business and personal trips with friends. So, those are good reasons not to live in a house even many of them can afford to buy one.
Each of my children has a good job. They can afford to buy a house with some down payment. I offered to help also. But they kept saying no. They want to live in an apartment (each lives on his own with a few roommates) with the reasons above.
I think it's a culture (in Europe), and people get used to it.
If that was the case, house prices would surely go down..oh wait they keep going up. Must be the lack of demand. lol.
While owning a home in European cities is somewhat restricted, many people own their "apartments". You can't possibly know which apartment looking houses are in fact condos people own. Also, the outside of those buildings is often deceiving. The structures are of good quality, with great thermo and noise insulation and interiors are often stunning. People sometimes buy a second condo connected by a wall and expand their living space.
In fact, I own a 2 BDR condo in Berlin, and there are 2 families in a 6 family dwelling that expanded their living space by buying adjacent space making their condos a spacious 4 BDR/2 bath homes.
So, don't judge things by just looking at them.
Another thing - people in Europe tend to live in one place for many, many years so they try to maintain good relationship with their neighbors. They are observing quiet times and generally try not to be loud and annoying to others.
Americans perception about home ownership in Europe is also a bit outdated. Look at the statistics: https://www.statista.com/statistics/...ate-in-europe/
and compare with American ownership rate of 65%
while only 30% is actually owned (mortgage free).
In Europe the percentage of mortgage free homes is 43%
Since they plan on living so many years, decades in fact, in the same apartment sharing the building with the same neighbors, combined with your statement of good relationships, do they immediately bond and become friends with each other when moving in? Are you friends with your co-inhabitants of the building? Also, do you know or are even friends with the people who live in the historic neighboring downtown buildings which abut the other side of your windowless side walls? Also, if you're single and meet a person you love in the same or even adjacent abutting building, would you date or even marry him/her, and is that a somewhat common practice/occurence in Germany due to the super high population density in apartment living? As a North American, it sounds so weird/is unheard of because it is usually impossible due to suburban living to date/have sex with a neighbor who is cheek by jowl and I would be interested to see how the experience feels.
Long and comprehensive answers if possible to every single one of my questions please because I have OCD, PDD, and Asperger's.
AFAIK, in American suburbia, many (if not most) people don't know their neighbors because they just hop in the car while it's still parked in the garage, so they don't even get to see each other when leaving the home.
Last edited by 00crashtest; 07-10-2021 at 04:32 AM..
What I'm about to say are from my observations and experience with my children. I think more and more of the younger generations, Millennial and the next one, even in the USA and Canada, prefer to live in apartments. They are more career oriented. They don't want to tie down and have kids early. They don't want to cut the grass and shovel snow. They don't want to do much maintenance around the house besides work. They travel a lot on business and personal trips with friends. So, those are good reasons not to live in a house even many of them can afford to buy one.
Each of my children has a good job. They can afford to buy a house with some down payment. I offered to help also. But they kept saying no. They want to live in an apartment (each lives on his own with a few roommates) with the reasons above.
I think it's a culture (in Europe), and people get used to it.
Thank you very much for your answer! Now I know why. As for roomates, are they intentionally choosing to have them to be less lonely, kill boredom, and be more social, since you said they could already afford a down payment, or is it mainly because they don't want to pay extra for renting alone?
This is very interesting observation. I have noticed that people in East Asian tend to call professional to handle those types of situations. I wonder how is it in Europe?
As my parents are from Asia, that is very true because labor costs there are almost negligible compared to the USA. Here, my parents would love to have professionals do it too, but they just don't want to waste so much money on repairs, so they DIY instead.
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